Firewall Issues I can't figure out

[irishcrazy2005]

So everything was working fine on my firewall before Thursday, but then something happened to my router and I had to reset it. I have re-setup port forwarding (on port 6883) but for some reason I am still firewalled. The only thing that I have done now that I didn't have before is that I set up my computer to use a static IP address. This should not make a difference as far as I am aware. I have the same rules set in my software firewall as before, and I have the ports forwarded in the router. Any ideas? By the way, it's a linksys 802.11b router.

[netyuppie]

if your positive the static IP is set up correctly, double check that the forwarding is set up to static IP and not the router IP. might sound silly, i've done it before.

[irishcrazy2005]

if your positive the static IP is set up correctly, double check that the forwarding is set up to static IP and not the router IP. might sound silly, i've done it before.

Well if I understand you correctly, I don't think that is the problem. I set up my static IP *as* the router IP (i.e. XXX.XXX.X.100, where the router's base IP range is XXX.XXX.X.100-x). Perhaps I misunderstand though?

[U2Lynne]

Your router IP is the one your type into your browser to go change the settings - usually 192.168.1.1. You should set your computers local IP to something like 192.168.1.110. Make sure you have DHCP turned off on your router since you are using a static local IP.

[irishcrazy2005]

Thanks for the suggestion Lynne. I did have DHCP enabled, however even after disabling it in my router I am still having this problem. I have set my static local IP to 192.168.2.100 and have the port I used for Azerus (6112) forwarded to that same IP. I have even totally disabled my software side firewall to no avail. Help!!!

Also, just to be clear, under "Internet Settings" in my router setup page I still want it to say obtain IP address automatically, right? (since I don't have a static IP through my ISP) I just want to turn off DHCP under "Network Setup"

[U2Lynne]

No, I don't think you want it to still say obtain IP address automatically. What is your router model number (I know it's a linksys, but what model, 802.11b just tells me it's wireless). Here is something on portforward.com on setting up a static IP on XP: http://portforward.com/networking/static-xp.htm You might want to take a look at that and see if you did it correctly. I'm kinda wondering about the IP you picked: 192.168.2.100 . I think you want a '1' instead of a '2' like this: 192.168.1.100.

[irishcrazy2005]

No, I don't think you want it to still say obtain IP address automatically. What is your router model number (I know it's a linksys, but what model, 802.11b just tells me it's wireless). Here is something on portforward.com on setting up a static IP on XP: http://portforward.com/networking/static-xp.htm You might want to take a look at that and see if you did it correctly. I'm kinda wondering about the IP you picked: 192.168.2.100 . I think you want a '1' instead of a '2' like this: 192.168.1.100.

I'll try changing that thing from automatically when I get home today, but I don't know what I would fill in as the IP address (since it wouldn't make sense to put a local IP in there). I have a BEFWS11S4v4 router. Portfoward.com is actually where I got the instructions to do it in the first place. Also, the '2' instead of the '1' is some strange thing that is required by my ISP, I don't know why, that's just what the linksys people told me when I couldn't install my router in the first place because the default '1' wouldn't work.

[irishcrazy2005]

Okay, I am at a complete loss here. I went ahead and reset my router and went back to a dynamic IP address in my wireless setup. I've gone and forwarded ports 6881-6999 in my router setup page and that is the port that is setup in Azerus. I have totally disabled my software firewall and the Windows firewall is turned off. I have also tried a port in a different range, to no avail. Please help! This used to work, I don't know what is wrong now.

[U2Lynne]

I have a dynamic IP address, however, I have a static *local* IP address. Each of these is addressed in a different area. Your computer needs to be set up to have a static IP address. It will look like 192.168.1.xxx. In your router, you will find that IP addresses are mentioned in a couple of different areas. You want your ISP to be able to random assign you one, however, you need to be able to manually assign your computers an IP (the local one). That is called DHCP and that needs to be turned OFF in order to use a static local IP. Once you set that up, you need to restart your computer.

Sorry if this is all repeated, but you mentioned you went back to a dynamic IP address in your router and I'm not sure you should do that (but again, it depends on if you are talking about the IP your ISP assigns you or if you are talking about DHCP).

[irishcrazy2005]

I have a dynamic IP address, however, I have a static *local* IP address. Each of these is addressed in a different area. Your computer needs to be set up to have a static IP address. It will look like 192.168.1.xxx. In your router, you will find that IP addresses are mentioned in a couple of different areas. You want your ISP to be able to random assign you one, however, you need to be able to manually assign your computers an IP (the local one). That is called DHCP and that needs to be turned OFF in order to use a static local IP. Once you set that up, you need to restart your computer.

Sorry if this is all repeated, but you mentioned you went back to a dynamic IP address in your router and I'm not sure you should do that (but again, it depends on if you are talking about the IP your ISP assigns you or if you are talking about DHCP).

Sorry to not be specific. I was refering to a static local IP. At this point it shouldn't matter though because I have put my settings back to exactly what they used to be (basically I would have the ports forwarded to whatever local IP I was assigned, and whenever I noticed that I was firewalled again I would look to see what my new IP was and then just change it in the port forward, this worked just fine). I have no idea what the darn problem is. Does the computer need to be reset each time I open ports too?

Edit: Restarting the computer did nothing.....I would like to get this working in it's original configuration and then try the dynamic IP again, but I just can't for some reason

[U2Lynne]

On your computer, when you do 'ipconfig', is the Default Gateway the IP the IP of your router? And, is the IP Address that shows similar to your router?

On my PC, it says:

IP Address: 192.168.1.120
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1

And then, wehn you look at the TCP/IP Porperties for your PC and you look at the tab that says IP Address, do you have it set to Specify an IP address and it has all those same numbers input there? And in your router, you forwarded you ports for the IP address that came up (192.168.1.120)?

[TheMamba]

Just a shot in the dark...but have you tried changing the port you're using/forwarding for bittorrent? Could be that 6881-6999 are being blocked by your ISP...

[irishcrazy2005]

Okay, I hate to keep bringing this up, but I just cannot get this damn problem figured out. First of all, I want to keep having a dynamic IP and not a static one (this way I don't have problems if a visitor is trying to connect to my wireless network). This worked fine for me in the past and should still work fine now.

When I look under the TCP/IP Properties of my connection, it is set to "Assign IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically." When I type ipconfig in the command prompt I get this:

IP address: 192.168.2.100
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.2.1

In Azereus I have "Incoming TCP/UDP listen Port" set to 60000.

Under port fowarding in the setup page of my router I have ports 60000-60001 forwarded, both protocols, to 192.168.2.100 with the box labeled "Enable" checked.

I have totally disabled my software side firewall so that there is no problem there, and I have double checked that the Windows firewall is turned off.

I am still only getting the yellow light. I have also tried a variety of different ports.

Is there anything else that I can do??? This used to work, I swear.

[U2Lynne]

You know, that all *looks* correct. I don't see anything wrong with what you've written.

Something you might want to try is to bypass your router and see if you aren't firewalled that way. That would at least let us know if it's your computer or your router. Could there be another application on your machine that is firewalling you? Do you have an anti-virus application running (like Norton)?

[irishcrazy2005]

Thanks for the suggestion Lynne! I hooked directly up to my modem and was still firewalled, so then I remembered that there is actually a firewall in there too (stupid thing, you can't even turn it off). Since I had changed to port 60000 from 6883 it wasn't working anymore (although that doesn't explain why it wasn't working when I went back to 6883, but oh well). I've got the correct port forwarded to my router now, and then the router does the sorting to the appropriate computer. Thanks again for all the help everyone.

Phil

[PyRo UK]

Thanks for the suggestion Lynne! I hooked directly up to my modem and was still firewalled, so then I remembered that there is actually a firewall in there too (stupid thing, you can't even turn it off). Since I had changed to port 60000 from 6883 it wasn't working anymore (although that doesn't explain why it wasn't working when I went back to 6883, but oh well). I've got the correct port forwarded to my router now, and then the router does the sorting to the appropriate computer. Thanks again for all the help everyone.

Phil
I'm not shure, but I think 6883 is the famous "torrent port" which most ISPs will limit your bandwidth for. You need to set up bit torrent clients to use the range of (about, so don't quote this) 49,500 to 60,000. Chose a port around the middle of that range and you're shure to find one of the un-alocated fast ports.